“It is now time to draw candidates for the first round of battle!” Chrysus announced to the cheering, ecstatic audience who surrounded the arena. “In the way of the old I shall draw names from this, the fabled hat of Athena.” He produced a golden helm with little white wings on the top. It looked distinctly Greek and even had one of those little nose guards I recognised from the 500 film.
Reaching in with vigour, his arm disappeared. It had to be some kind of mana because the helm itself simply wasn’t long enough for that. With a large grin on his serpentine face he withdrew a small scrap of parchment. Whipping his arm away, he threw the parchment high into the air and it exploded in a large rumbling bang which reverberated around the stadium.
Fireworks shot out from the parchment in various shades as magenta, fuchsia, and violet lit up the darkened sky. The day was drawing to a close and I had wondered why it had taken so long to announce the first fight. Apparently, it was due to the sun being risen. What a dick, I thought scathingly as I watched the performance with folded arms. Looking around at the audience, it seemed I was quite alone in my thoughts. Most people watched on with the interest and wonder of a young child on bonfire night.
As the colours cascaded high into the sky, a single name formed from the explosive jets: Brodir.
“The first champion to fight will be none other than Baccus’ favourite son, Brodir!” Chrysus announced to the crowds fervent cheering. “Let’s hope that this fighter can win more than a simple drinking contest.”
Laughs rang out and I sighed heavily, resisting the urge to let my face hit my palm.
“I’ve heard great things about him,” Rex said in a low growl from the side of me.
“And now for our next contestant!” Chrysus yelled.
As he continued on with his showy fa?ade, I turned towards the sound of footsteps as Havier entered his box. Catching my eye, he moved to the side of me.
“We need to talk about the assassination plot,” he said in a grim tone. “I know when it’s going to happen and I will not be able to assist in the fight.”
Overhead the fireworks crackled with scarlet, turquoise, and khaki. I didn’t even know you could make khaki fireworks. They spelled out the name: Adolf Von Silver.
“It seems Nyx’s champion shall be the contender! A newcomer to the pantheon and to these games, will his chosen make a good showing on his first outing, or will Baccus’ man secure the day? You won’t have to wait long to find out, people of Celestia. Their battle will commence tomorrow morning!”
The crowd cheered as Chrysus released more fireworks from the tips of his fingers, entertaining the crowd with dancing catonids made of light. They fought an array of firework monsters. It would have been impressive If I didn’t hate him so much. It surprised me that he was so clearly trying to win the hearts and minds of the people when I knew he was planning to slaughter them in an all-out war of the gods. Was this his attempt at recruitment?
“Why won’t you be able to fight?” Rex asked Havier, and my mind was swiftly pulled back into the conversation.
“Because my involvement would destroy the arena, breaking the amnesty,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Chrysus has me trapped, the bastard.”
“I thought the amnesty was only between the gods?” I said.
“It is, but there’s more to it than that. The amnesty applies to attacks by those of the same rank and station against one another. Gods are forbidden to attack gods; rulers of kingdoms are forbidden to attack other rulers. It is the only way to ensure the safety of the most important people here.”
“So gods can attack kings?”
“If they want to, only other gods are powerful enough to stop them. They won’t though, not unless severely provoked. It looks bad for their image to randomly smite rulers of countries and it would make others hesitant to attend their future tournaments. A god’s reputation is everything to them. Part of the path to ascension is building a loyal following of worshippers so fostering good will is a large part of their job, so to speak.”
“So are you saying his assassins are kings?”
“No his assassins are not rulers. They are going to come for me with soul mana, a powerful attack type which gets harder to fend off the more powerful one gets. It has been known as god slayer magic in the past and almost everyone who is born with it is slaughtered on the spot if they’re found out. The only way I can defend against it is to send out my own wave of soul mana. Unfortunately, doing so would likely kill half the audience, including a few minor, less powerful rulers, on the spot.” He glanced towards Lucas but just for a moment. “If I do that I will not only break the amnesty, but I will be slaughtering my own people.”
“Then how do you expect me to deal with it?” I asked, turning fully towards him now. I hated politics, but I understood the desire to not murder a bunch of innocent people to protect oneself. The issue was, if that was the level of power needed to counter this threat, then how could I defend him without causing the same kind of collateral damage. More importantly, was this god slayer mana the same as my own soul power?
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“They won’t use their soul mana on someone of your level,” he said, his large eyes resting resolutely on mine. “Soul mana is powerful, but also dangerous to the user, and tyring. They won’t use it on anyone other than their target: me. So if you engage them in battle, you’ll be able to fight them normally. I need you to do this for me and I need you to do it through intercepting them before they can reach me. If they get to me before you can kill them then it’s game over. I will be forced to defend myself and this stadium will be thrown into calamity.”
“Surely even this soul mana can’t one shot you though.”
“You’d be surprised,” he sighed, blinking hard. “There is a reason why the gods slaughter almost anyone who shows an aptitude for it.”
What he said made sense. The few times I’d used my own soul power I’d been rendered almost completely catatonic afterwards. He was basically saying that in a single move Chrysus had turned him into a ticking time bomb. Either way, Havier Regina would lose. He would either die, or he would lose all the support of those around him and from the sound of it, that would ensure he never ascended to godhood. Or at least it would be a huge set back. Also the many innocent lives lost, that was important too, much more important in my opinion. Though I couldn’t help but wonder is my own soul power was the same thing and if that was true, would I be able to kill a god?
“You said you know when this is going to happen?” I asked.
He nodded and I sent a quick message to Panda. I needed him to look into this god slaying magic and I needed it done discreetly. No one else could know about it, not even my team.
***
The next morning we returned to the box to watch the battle. Whoever won would enter the finals. Whoever won, would influence the overall result of the tournament. I needed to gather as much information as I could and watch closely.
It seemed that whilst I had been in the training zone, my companions had not sat idly by. The previous night I had spoken to Lucas and Rex. The new king of Havar had told me that his troops had arrived at New Port, a small coastal town roughly a day’s ride east of Castalor.
A contingent of them had already arrived in the capital, disguised as normal people. Supposedly they had already integrated themselves into the crowd. He’d wanted to bring more soldiers here but couldn’t risk them being found out. It would be constituted as an open act of aggression. So the rest stayed with the boats, ready to depart immediately if needed. He also had a ship docked in Cali Port with more troops who were currently helping Freja to rebuild. He assured me that we had enough troops and contingencies to escape if needs be.
I wasn’t certain.
If Chrysus’ plan succeeded I wasn’t sure that a few boats and some armed men would be enough to provide any one of us safe passage off the continent, but a backup plan was good to have I guessed.
Rex had ordered half of Broken Sheild to Castalor. His mercenaries waited inconspicuously in the wings. They had infiltrated the various sections of the crowd and awaited his orders. Their presence was more useful than Lucas’ faraway army, but I hoped I wouldn’t need to use them.
The rest of the mercs were waiting back in High Rock. Apparently the Duchess had declined her invitation to watch the tournament and was busy training up an army of shield maidens with the help of Broken Shield. Lucas assured me that having fall back positions both on the coast to the east and the mountains to the southwest would put us in a strong position tactically.
However, I was fairly certain that if the need to flee arose then I would already be dead, along with countless others. Still, I was glad for their aid. It was nice to know they cared so much.
As we stood waiting for the battle to start, Lucas nodded towards a VIP box on the far left of our own. It was a lavish, raised box which stood above and jutted out over the eastern stands. I could just about make out the contingent of people standing eagerly at the barrier, looking down into the arena.
“That box belongs to a powerful ruler,” he said quietly as I followed his gaze. “She is known as the Empress of the Rising Sun and it is said that her lands are so vast that the sun never sets on her empire.”
“I’ve not heard much about the eastern continent,” I replied.
“Not many in the west talk about that part of Celestia,” Lucas replied. “Our world is split into three main areas. The western continent, where we are now, is by far the most densely populated and most economically powerful entity on the planet. It’s one large expanse of land with a few smaller islands dotted around it and a large expanse of land to the south, which is largely uninhabited, but which still falls under the rules of the continent’s leader, my father.”
I already knew most of this. The Celestian map was a facsimile of Earth’s. The western continent, known to most simply as the continent, was North America. The islands he spoke of were the Caribbean and the expanse to the south was South America. Though the map was not exactly the same, it was close enough to draw pretty clear comparisons.
I didn’t know much about the rest of the world as my own system map was dark in those areas and no one really talked about them. I’d heard little bits, and tales of the occasional places here and there, but for the most part it was a blank to me. I assumed I would explore at least some of it in my time, assuming that I managed to leave Castalor alive.
“There is also a place known as the central continent,” Lucas continued. “It is a desert, mostly. Its people are not united and it is split into small, unimportant areas of influence who dabble mainly in the spice trades. To the north is a kingdom called Britania. Their king isn’t here today, I heard that he was assassinated not too long ago and the country is currently in turmoil. It was a rich, albeit small, trading nation.
“And then there is the eastern continent. Its lands are vast and sparsely populated. It is said that some of the world’s most fearsome creatures roam its plains, which is why it is a feared empire filled with hardened, veteran warriors. They don’t come close to matching the numbers here, but they are still powerful. Its people live mostly in the island archipelagos to the east and south of the main expanse of land. It’s rare that their empress ventures past her own borders, even for big events like this.”
“This is really interesting and all,” I began, “but why are you telling me?”
“Because tonight I am to dine with her and I want you to accompany me,” he smiled and patted my shoulder. “Gonzo and Taylor will be there too. I hope to foster good relations between our peoples.”
“Why do you want me to come?”
“Because right now you’re Diako’s champion and he has a lot of followers in their borders. I think your presence will help me.”
I nodded, but before I could reply a booming voice swept over the arena.
“Today we will have the privilege to watch two of the finest warriors in the land go head-to-head for the glory of their gods,” Chrysus announced to the crowd. “Please join me in putting your hands together to welcome Brodir and Adolf Von Silver to the field!”
